| Honeyeaters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Femalecrescent honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Superfamily: | Meliphagoidea |
| Family: | Meliphagidae Vigors, 1825 |
Ahoneyeater is one of a large family of small to medium-sized birds which feed onnectar. They are most common inAustralia andNew Guinea, but are also found inNew Zealand, thePacific islands as far east asSamoa andTonga, and the islands to the north and west of New Guinea.Bali, on the other side of theWallace Line, has a singlespecies.
Honeyeaters and the Australianchats (Epthianura) make up thefamilyMeliphagidae. In total there are 182species in 42genera.[2] About half of them live in Australia, and many of the others are from New Guinea. Although honeyeaters look and behave much like other nectar-feeding birds around the world (such as thesunbirds andflowerpeckers), they are not related.
There is an important partnership between honeyeaters and Australianflowering plants. A great many Australian plants are fertilised by honeyeaters, particularly theProteaceae,Myrtaceae, andEpacridaceae. It is known that the honeyeaters are important inNew Zealand as well, and scientists believe they are just as important in other areas.
Unlike thehummingbirds of America, honeyeaters do not usuallyhover (beat their wings fast to stay in the same air space). However, smaller members of the family do hover hummingbird-style to collect nectar from time to time. Usually honeyeaters move quickly from perch to perch in the outer leaves, stretching up or sideways or hanging upside. Many honeyeaters have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, covered with bristles which soak up liquids readily. The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the uppermandible then squeezes liquid out when the bill is closed.
As well as nectar, all or nearly all honeyeaters takeinsects and other small creatures, usually by catching them in the air, sometimes by picking them off plants. A few of the larger species, such as thewhite-eared honeyeater, and thestrong-billed honeyeater ofTasmania, search underbark for insects. Many species also eat fruit, and a small number eat large amounts of fruit,[3] particularly intropical rainforests and in semi-aridscrubland. Thepainted honeyeater is amistletoe specialist. Most, however, live on a diet of nectar and insects. In general, the honeyeaters with long, fine bills eat more nectar, the shorter-billed species less so, but even specialised nectar eaters like thespinebills take extra insects to add protein to their diet when they are breeding.
The movements of honeyeaters are poorly understood. Many follow the flowering of favourite food plants. Arid zone species appear to travel further and less predictably than those of the more fertile areas. It seems probable that no single explanation will emerge: the general rule for honeyeater movements is that there is no general rule.
